I graduated with a Biology degree and now wish to be a Clinical Psychologist?

[sincerelyflowers]

For a while, I wanted to go to med school or PA school, but over the past year, I decided it wasn't for me. I didn't do research in undergrad, as the only research that ever interested me was psychology-based, and the more experienced psych students often took those. I did an independent study on bipolar/schizophrenia, which I presented at my school's psych conference and wrote a long paper that is not published (though I could try publishing it?). Currently, I am applying for research assistant/tech jobs for research experience but most are not psych-related in my area, so unsure what to do with that.

I have about 20 credits of psych courses with a 4.0 GPA in those, overall GPA is 3.85 from a highly rated small university. I do have thousands of volunteer hours as well as clinical experience (CNA for 3 years) and I speak 3 languages. But the lack of research will surely hurt my application.

Do I need to do research specifically regarding psychology? Or do I just have to show I can do research?
Any courses do you recommend I take? I read there's a thread listing them but I can't find it for some reason.
I should probably take the Psych GRE given my degree is in biology, not psych, right?

I'm just looking for guidance because this just seems impossible now lol and all I read are horror stories of how much harder clinical psych programs are to get into in comparison to PA/med school programs.

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[PikminOC]

Are you looking at psyd programs? Lots of diploma mills out there

 

[summerbabe]

Do I need to do research specifically regarding psychology? Or do I just have to show I can do research?

For a funded PhD, engaging in original research in psychology is almost certainly required since the people you are competing against will have that experience. And sometimes a lot of it (e.g., publications/posters), sometimes less (e.g., good letter of rec from their mentor and participation without pubs).

The reason why psychology-related research is important is because things like research methods differ widely between fields (biomed trials for cancer vs field work in anthropology vs understanding psychological constructs).

Many reputable PhD programs also run in a lab-based model where each PI/faculty member gets to mostly unilaterally decide who is offered their spot (or two) each cycle based on how well that student fits their ongoing lines of research.

Of course general research experience would never be counted against you but let's say you only had a lot of experience managing clinical drug trials and you apply to a PI who focuses on anxiety.

The methods used will be very different in both forms of research and you'll have more to catch up on/learn to get going quickly in your PhD program as opposed to other people who had experience in a psychology lab, even if it wasn't necessarily anxiety focused research as the skillset they developed is likely to transfer over more seemlessly.

Now if you're willing to take on $200,000+ debt and go to a PsyD program with almost certainly worse outcomes/training, you can bypass psychology focused research but nobody in this field is going to recommend that as option #1.

Lastly, if the goal is to do therapy for a living, MSW, LPC, and MFT programs would be recommended over the PhD. They do not require research and will graduate you in 2 years of f/t study, as opposed to the PhD which theoretically prepares one for both clinical and academic paths. Good luck!

 

[Ollie123]

While I don't disagree with summerbabe per se, I'd also point out that field differences are perhaps not as sharp as their post may imply. There is really a continuum between fields and the overlap between psychology, biology, etc. is meaningful. For instance, I know many clinical psychologists (myself included) who do indeed run clinical drug trials and have NIH-funding to do so. I go to conferences that are full of people like me (many more successful and better funded than I am), so we aren't even necessarily exceptions. To be fair, a lot of us do not take students as we aren't based in psychology departments, but some certainly are. One of my grad school buddies was a biology major with no prior experience in psychology and I'm certain we had others in the program.

I'd look for gigs at the intersection of the two to get experience. Drug studies examining the mechanisms of psychiatric meds or novel repurposing for psychiatric conditions (part of what I do). Physiological manifestations and the health consequences of psychiatric disorders. Behavioral health conditions in cancer populations. Heck, virtually any clinical neuroscience research. These would be relevant enough to "count" as research experience for many psychology labs, though you would probably want to be somewhat targeted in where you apply (i.e., you'll probably have better luck in labs focused on the biological basis of behavior). These labs also wouldn't shy away from hiring biology majors. I sure don't. Of my two current RAs, one has a BS in Biomed engineering/MS Biomed Science and the other a BS in Neuroscience (with the only prior experience being cellular). Both were hired over multiple applicants with psychology backgrounds.

Getting a good paid research position can still be pretty competitive without experience, so be prepared to do some legwork on this.

 

[Dazen]

If you have 20 credits of psych courses, you will likely meet basic admissions requirements for most programs. While you should check for each program you plan on applying to, if you have taken intro psych, research methods, statistics, and abnormal psych, you'll meet the majority of programs' specific course requirements. The psych GRE could be helpful in demonstrating your knowledge in psych, but many programs are moving away from requiring/accepting the GRE. If they are not accepting or reviewing scores, they are not helpful to submit and might be slightly held against you for not following instructions. I'd again check programs you're interested in, but expect that the psych GRE isn't going to be your best bang for buck of time.

For context, I was an engineering major undergrad and had only done ecology and engineering research prior to grad school. My background is certainly an outlier and it's preferable to have psych research experience, but it can be possible to demonstrate connection between research methods in highly different fields (I focused on my quantitative skills). It's also important to have a very specific description of the types of research questions you want to answer to show that you've done your homework and are ready to begin contributing to original research in the field.

 

[sincerelyflowers]

Are you looking at psyd programs? Lots of diploma mills out there

Nope, PhD only.

 

[sincerelyflowers]

For a funded PhD, engaging in original research in psychology is almost certainly required since the people you are competing against will have that experience. And sometimes a lot of it (e.g., publications/posters), sometimes less (e.g., good letter of rec from their mentor and participation without pubs).

The reason why psychology-related research is important is because things like research methods differ widely between fields (biomed trials for cancer vs field work in anthropology vs understanding psychological constructs).

Many reputable PhD programs also run in a lab-based model where each PI/faculty member gets to mostly unilaterally decide who is offered their spot (or two) each cycle based on how well that student fits their ongoing lines of research.

Of course general research experience would never be counted against you but let's say you only had a lot of experience managing clinical drug trials and you apply to a PI who focuses on anxiety.

The methods used will be very different in both forms of research and you'll have more to catch up on/learn to get going quickly in your PhD program as opposed to other people who had experience in a psychology lab, even if it wasn't necessarily anxiety focused research as the skillset they developed is likely to transfer over more seemlessly.

Now if you're willing to take on $200,000+ debt and go to a PsyD program with almost certainly worse outcomes/training, you can bypass psychology focused research but nobody in this field is going to recommend that as option #1.

Lastly, if the goal is to do therapy for a living, MSW, LPC, and MFT programs would be recommended over the PhD. They do not require research and will graduate you in 2 years of f/t study, as opposed to the PhD which theoretically prepares one for both clinical and academic paths. Good luck!

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply! I've found two jobs near me with psychology-related research focused on my interests, so hopefully I get one of those jobs. I'm definitely interested only in the PhD program, not PsyD, and I'm not interested in only doing therapy for a living, so I guess I'll just work hard in the next 2+ years to get enough experience to get into a good PhD program.

 

[PsychSupreme]

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply! I've found two jobs near me with psychology-related research focused on my interests, so hopefully I get one of those jobs. I'm definitely interested only in the PhD program, not PsyD, and I'm not interested in only doing therapy for a living, so I guess I'll just work hard in the next 2+ years to get enough experience to get into a good PhD program.

Why not consider programs in cognitive/behavioral neuroscience or experimental psychology in programs where collaboration with clinical faculty is common and encouraged. For example, Jonathan Cohen at Princeton works exclusively in non-clinical settings and focuses on the neuroscience of psychotic disorders. If you aren't interested in doing therapy for a living, all the practicum training in a clinical program may not be your forte.